Michelangelo's "The Awawkening Slave"

In his sonnets, Michelangelo expresses his sculptural theory of how sculptures already exist within a marble block but must be physically carved out to reveal the true art within. In his philosophy of carving sculpture and his sculptural theory of Subtraction, he believes an artist is mentally inspired and can create a clear mental image of what he wants to carve. As Michelangelo once said, “one paints with the head and not with the hands.” With these conceptions and pre-existing ideas, the artist must physically “subtract” from the marble blocks in order to reveal the ultimate sculpture. When carving, Michelangelo also imagines that his sculpture is essentially “alive,” with the figure coming to life as it “grows larger wherever the stone decreases.” Along with his philosophy of carving sculpture, Michelangelo's sonnets help us understand his emotional appeal to his artwork and sonnets. As seen in sonnet. no. 151, Michelangelo believes that through carving sculpture, he can “flee” his outside problems that he is struggling with because carving gives him “joy.” However, he believes he lacks the skill in his art to pleasure his audience which ultimately makes him sorrowful. Overall, Michelangelo expresses his emotions of struggle and being restricted through his sonnets and sculptures.

Similar to his sonnets, Michelangelo's sculptural concepts and emotional appeal is visually evident in his carving sculpture known as “The Awakening Slave.” Even though the sculpture was carved on a motionless block of stone, Michelangelo was able to carve a figure that looked “alive.” It looks as if the figure is struggling and trying to break out of the marble as it is “concealed by the excess mass of its own flesh.” This directly relates to Michelangelo's sonnets in which he seems to be going through a struggle because the figure trying to escape the stone represents his own struggle. As previously mentioned in his sonnets, Michelangelo feels free when he carves sculptures, but...